


For the Love of Honey

by LadyLondonderry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Bees, Just bees, OT5 Friendship, technically harry styles/louis tomlinson too it's just not specified, thats it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 18:19:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4190124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLondonderry/pseuds/LadyLondonderry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Louis looks like he's going to topple over, arms filled with planks and mesh.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>  <i>"What's this for?" Liam asks, rushing to take the weight away before Louis hurts himself.</i></p><p> </p><p>  <i>"The bees, Liam!" Louis motions vaguely around himself to where there are definitely no bees.</i></p><p> </p><p>  <i>Liam frowns. His large fuzzy eyebrows (good landing spots for bees) furrowing. "There are no bees here, Louis."</i></p><p> </p><p>  <i>"Not yet, there's not."</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	For the Love of Honey

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kingsoftheimpossible](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingsoftheimpossible/gifts).



> A happy Day of Birth to Stigmata! I asked what they wanted and they listed a number of things that included BEES, so here is some drabble about Louis and bees. 
> 
> Note that this does not reflect proper care of bees. Or proper behavior of bees. Or proper bees. Nothing about this is really correct. Please talk to your local beekeeper and do not just order bees off the internet.

Louis looks like he's going to topple over, arms filled with planks and mesh.

"What's this for?" Liam asks, rushing to take the weight away before Louis hurts himself.

"The bees, Liam!" Louis motions vaguely around himself to where there are definitely no bees.

Liam frowns. His large fuzzy eyebrows (good landing spots for bees) furrowing. "There are no bees here, Louis."

"Not yet, there're not."

\---

A week later, there are a lot of bees.

They are not in a beehive.

They are in Liam's bedroom.

Liam is not ashamed to say he shrieks like a small child. Anybody would, if woken up to the sound of buzzing and a view of small fuzzy black and yellow butts drifting around the room.

He thinks there's maybe a hundred. Or a thousand. He wants to call for help but is afraid of bees flying into his mouth. He read somewhere that bees don't sting you, as long as you don't go after them. He also thinks he doesn't trust what he's read all that much at the moment.

Liam wraps himself in his duvet and tries to move slowly and stealthily toward the door. The bees roam around him but mostly leave him alone. At one point in his slow journey he trips over his antman action figure, which is ironic enough to make him scowl and kick it. The bees don't seem happy about this show of anger, buzzing _louder_ and flying _faster_ , Liam squeaks in fear and moves faster toward the door, and freedom.

Except the door _doesn't_ hold freedom. A low buzzing echoes down the hallway as bees float up and down it, a sort of bee superhighway.

Liam is going to move out. He doesn't even care how cheap the rent here is, this isn't worth it.

He braves the hallway and makes it sting-free to the living room-slash-kitchenette. Harry is there at the table with a bowl of cereal. There are pink and white flowers braided into his hair. Also bees.

Liam shrieks.

Harry turns to look at him in the slow, sloth-like way he does everything. "Calm yourself," he commands. "You're scaring the bees."

A bee lands on Harry's nose.

Liam shrieks again.

Harry rolls his eyes and continues eating his ridiculously healthy wheat filled cereal. He has apparently been accepted by the bees. 

Liam decides it's time to get out of the house. He belatedly realises that he's only in his boxers and duvet, but at this point it doesn't matter. He doesn't think he will be accepted by the bees the way Harry is, there is no hope for him here.

Liam gets just feet from the front door before it bangs open.

"Liam!" Louis shouts, dropping shopping bags on the floor. He tackle-hugs Liam, a huge grin on his face. "Good morning! Did you sleep well? I've been up since four! Three cups of tea and a Costa coffee, that's me!"

"Louis," Liam steadies them. "Why is our house filled with bees?"

Louis blinks. He looks around them, his eyes following individual fuzzy monsters. "I adopted them," he says.

"Fuck," Liam says, because he can sense Louis' stubborn side fast approaching.

"Do you not like them?" Louis asks.

"I would like them _outside_ ," Liam stresses. "Why are they not _outside_?"

"Well it was raining," Louis says. "I thought they wouldn't like getting wet. I figured they could go back outside after it's dry."

"No," says Liam. "No, no. That's not- No." He takes his head in one hand, can feel the headache blooming. "Bees like rain. It gives them something to drink," he reasons.

Louis nods excitedly. "I thought of that!" he exclaims. He holds up the bags for Liam to see. There are containers of sugar in each. "The internet says bees like sugar water! I thought I'd fill up the sink and mix this in!"

Louis seems to think the conversation is done. He hums to himself as he walks through to the kitchenette, completely oblivious to the little sting machines all around him. 

It's time to move out. It's definitely time to move out.

\---

Six hours later, Liam is out of class and his shift at the Campus Scheduling Office has ended, so he is set free for the evening.

He finds that he doesn't actually want to go home. He sort of dreads whatever's awaiting him there.

That being said, he does go home. He is a good roommate after all.

Before he even reaches their flat, Liam can see Louis attempting to create something on the front lawn. The town house their flat is located in has a small patch of grass outside, just enough for a few lawn chairs and, apparently, now some sort of modern art piece by a mister Louis W. Tomlinson.

"What," asks Liam, "is that."

"Liam!" Louis shouts, collapsing onto Liam as if all strength has left him. "It's my bee house, of course! My house for bees!" He pouts, grasping his arms around Liam's neck so that he's dragged everywhere Liam walks. "It's not done though," Louis whines, "and I've been out here for _hours_."

He's using his pity-me voice, and damn it, it's working. Liam sighs.

"Where's the instructions then?" he asks, unlatching Louis' hands from around his neck and dropping him in the grass.

"Instructions are for squares!" Louis shouts. "I want ice cream and beer for all the hard work!" He rolls around in the grass to emphasise just how much he wants said ice cream.

Liam finds the set of instructions abandoned in the grass next to the small wood pile that Louis has formed into the shape of an abstract flamingo. "Right," he says, looking them over. "This says you need a hammer, screwdriver and mallet. Where are those?"

Louis blinks at him. "I don't own those. What am I, a carpenter?"

Liam rolls his eyes. "Hang on, I'll be back." He's got a toolbox under the sink. Taking the stairs two at a time up to their flat, Liam curses the odd captivating power Louis has over him (over everyone). He could probably spray an entire water bottle over Liam, and Liam would just take it in stride.

Inside, there are still bees everywhere.

Brilliant.

Before even taking two steps into the room, Liam is caught off guard by the sight of Niall running into the living room in nothing but his pants and a towel tied around his neck like a cape. "Liam!" Niall shouts. He flails his arms as he runs in circles around the couch. "Look! I'm Jupiter! I'm the heir to the universe! I can control bees!"

Certainly, he has the bees' attention. They seem to be following him in a great swarm. They're also stinging him, by the looks of all the welts covering his arms and chest.

Niall lets out an appallingly loud warrior cry and runs back out of the room. Most of the bees, thankfully for Liam, follow him.

After that stunning display, Liam makes his way to the kitchenette. He's learning that as long as he moves slowly and gracefully, the bees don't give two fucks. He finds Harry leaning against the oven with a half eaten omelette.

"Ah, Harry," he addresses. "Louis seems to have regressed to a five year old, and is demanding ice cream."

Harry nods, his mouth full of omelette.

"Please make him stop," Liam begs, searching under the sink for his toolbox. The sink is filled with a sort of sugary paste. 

Harry nods again. The bees stuck in his curls buzz in excitement.

Liam takes the toolbox outside and gets to work on the beehive. Harry follows and stands over Louis, who is still splayed out in the grass.

"Harry!" Louis moans. "I need ice cream! I'll die without it!' He's covered himself with grass stains at this point, rolling around in their tiny expanse of a yard.

Harry looks down on him fondly. Then, like the long armed neanderthal he is, he reaches down and picks up Louis by the waist. 

"Ice cream ice cream ice cream ice cream," Louis chants quietly, squirming in Harry's grip to try to at least get his feet on the floor.

"Okay," Harry says as Louis struggles to free himself. "But we're getting frozen yogurt."

"No!" Louis screams in protest. "Ice cream! And beer! No more frozen yogurt! Never!"

Harry pets Louis' head like he's a small animal, and wanders off down the lane with him. Liam knows for a fact that the direction he's going is taking them right toward the nearest frozen yogurt shop. He chooses not to get involved.

\---

Almost an hour later, Liam has the bee hive set up and in as close to working order as a bee-less beehive meant to house bees can be, and he can see Harry and Louis coming back down the lane. Harry seems to be carrying a gallon bucket of frozen yogurt, while Louis has a six pack of beer in each hand. Liam thanks his lucky stars that of all the things Louis is, generous is definitely one of them.

"It's beautiful!" Louis shouts when he sees the hive. Liam follows his stare. It's average at best, he thinks. A little lopsided and the wood has splintered in a couple places, but probably good enough for bees.

Speaking of which.

"How do you propose we get the bees _in_ the hive?" Liam asks. It's been bugging him for a while.

Louis cracks a beer and hands it to Liam before taking one for himself. "Dunno," he says. "A net? Maybe we can lure them with honey."

Harry frowns. "I don't think bees want honey," he says. "That's why we eat it. Maybe we can lay a flower trail..." he begins surreptitiously glancing at the hedges of the townhouses around them, looking for flower boxes.

"Maybe we can just get Niall to run out here," Liam says thoughtfully. "Unless he's taken so many stings that he's gone into anaphylactic shock. We should probably go check on him, really."

Louis shrugs. "If you say so. I think he really is Jupiter. He's certainly not from around here. Have you ever seen him actually dye his hair? It grows in two colors like that."

What they end up doing is grabbing mason jars to catch the bees in and release them into the hive.

"They" being a relative term, because Louis quickly assumed the role of director, shouting instructions at Liam and Harry.

Liam catches the bees one at a time and releases them into the hive, before running for it to ensure he's not stung. It's nerve wracking, but he assumes it builds character.

Harry fills his jar with flowers and waits for bees to investigate on their own before closing the lid and bringing them down to the hive. 

Niall is passed out on the couch, his body extremely puffed up from the stings, but wakes up instantly when Louis lays a beer on his stomach. "Lou!" he exclaims jovially. "Did you know I'm universe royalty?"

"I did indeed," Louis says. "Now direct your bees into my bee hive so they can make me honey!"

Niall cackles, "Right, mate! I'm on it!" and runs around the room until he's stirred up a cloud of angry buzzing fuzz butts. He runs out the door and down toward the bee hive out front with the bees chasing him, but didn't seem to think through to the idea that they would rather chase him than investigate a new bee hive. Niall gets stung quite a bit more, and ends up laying in the grass and moaning piteously about it while downing his beer.

Now that Niall has stirred up the bees, Louis, Liam and Harry have retreated into the back of the house where it's safer. Liam is more than a little afraid of being stung, and while Harry seems indifferent, he probably also would like to stay on friendly terms with his flower loving friends.

"You know," Harry drawls after a couple minutes. "I think there are less bees in here than there were this morning."

Liam looks around and it's very true. The cloud of yellow and black really has dispersed quite a bit. "You don't think they've just wandered out the door throughout the day?" he asks.

Harry shakes his head. "Nah, they follow the queen, don't they? They'd all have left if she did."

Liam thinks this is a good point. Maybe the queen is in a back room, like the linen closet or the bathroom. He prays it's not his bedroom.

"Adventure!" Louis shouts, mysteriously appearing next to them. "An expedition it is, then! Come along!"

They try the bathroom first, but nothing seems particularly out of place. Nor does the linen closet (although it does seem odd that there are actual linens in the closet, who on earth owns linens in a flat of uni boys?).

Liam and Niall's room is checked, then Harry and Louis', but nothing is really amiss there.

Last is the room at the end of the hall, and Liam is ashamed to find that it hasn't even occurred to him what Zayn has thought of this whole ordeal. Even Louis doesn't have the gall to just open his door, knocking primly instead.

"Yeah mate," drawls Zayn from the other side of the door. Even still in the hallway, Liam can tell Zayn's been smoking weed for quite a while, the doorway reeking of it.

Louis creaks the door open and suddenly the weed smell overwhelms them, as do the _bees_. So very _many bees_. Liam stands stock still, their sheer numbers overwhelming him, but after a moment he realises his how little these bees are doing. They're sort of just floating in place. Bumping into one another and buzzing off in opposite directions just as slowly.

Did Zayn really manage to get the bees high?

Of course he did.

Zayn is sitting in the middle of his floor with a number of cans of spray paint at his feet and a large canvas in front of him. Now that the door's open, Liam realises the room reeks of both weed and spray paint. It's a wonder the bees are still alive. It's a wonder _Zayn_ is still alive.

"Louis, I think the bees have beaten you to building that hive," Harry murmurs, and sure enough, on the canvas that Zayn is gazing at, one corner is covered in a growing hive. It's sort of oddly shaped and loopy, as if the bees have lost all linear sense of self, but Liam thinks it's pretty impressive they've managed to build anything at all after the fumes in this room.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Zayn asks. He may have been staring at that hive for quite a long time now. "Nature being nature, you know."

"Oh, I know," Louis says. "Nature doing my job! Not fair!" He runs up and grabs the canvas, which is nearly as tall as he is. "Sorry Love, gotta give my queen the proper home she deserves! Get your own bees!"

He drags the canvas out of the room and the cloud of bees slowly follow. Liam thinks it's a miracle that Louis hasn't been stung, but then, these bees probably don't have the sense to do much of anything at this point.

"Come on Z," Liam gives Zayn a hand up. "We should make sure Niall is still alive."

Harry, Liam and Zayn follow Louis as he drags the canvas down to the front lawn, and cracks off the pieces of the bee-made hive to add to his own home-made bee hive. None of the bees seem to be at all alarmed and Liam briefly wonders if maybe Louis is heir to the universe.

The sun is setting as they all sit down on the few mismatched lawn chairs and crack open the last of the beers. There's only four chairs but Niall is passed out on the grass at their feet (Liam checks that he's still breathing). 

"I vote we let the house air out of bees for a few hours before going back in," Liam says.

"Agreed, and maybe we should get Niall to an A&E," Harry adds.

Louis sighs. "Look at my beautiful hive." he says. "I can't wait to feast on their honey."

"My painting is one with the hive," Zayn mumbles. "What a beautiful thing nature is." He takes a long drink and then takes the last bottle and throws it at Niall, hitting him in the chest.

"Bees!" Niall shouts as he awakes. Still half asleep he uncaps the bottle and downs more than half of it at once. "I think I need a trip to A&E," he observes, his swollen hands making it difficult to hold the bottle.

"Nah," Louis says. "You're fine. Just drink another beer. Irish people have some sort of magical healing powers when they drink beer, right?"

Niall nods. "Sure, that sounds like the kind of thing that could be true.

(it's not true. They take him to A&E an hour later. The doctors say it's the worse bee sting case they've ever seen)

(Niall is not inheritor of the universe)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm [LondonFoginaCup](londonfoginacup.tumblr.com) on tumblr! You can stare at the fic rec post and consider reblogging it (but ultimately decide that you'll just keep staring instead) [here!](http://londonfoginacup.tumblr.com/post/165269168689/for-the-love-of-honey-ladylondonderry)


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